The present invention relates to office furniture and, more particularly, to adjustable chairs.
A wide variety of office chairs are available which include adjustable features to adapt them to the particular user and the task involved. Users of the chairs may, of course, vary significantly in physical characteristics. In addition, the user may wish to position himself differently depending upon the task being performed. Fully adjustable office chairs typically include a base or pedestal subassembly which supports a chair control. A seat is mounted on the chair control, and a back is pivoted to the chair control. The control allows tilting of the chair back with respect to the seat and the base. Provision is typically made for adjusting the preload or tension on the back support structure to adapt the chair to the particular user. Vertical height adjustment of the seat may be provided through a height adjustment mechanism in the base structure. Provision may be made for adjusting the angular position of the seat relative to the base and/or relative to the back. Provision may further be made to adjust the seat depth, that is, the position of the seat in a front-to-rear direction relative to the base and the back structure. Further, such chairs may include vertically adjustable armrest subassemblies. Examples of prior task oriented, adjustable chairs including some of these features may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,670 entitled CABLE ACTUATED VARIABLE STOP MECHANISM, which issued on Feb. 1, 1994, to Karsten et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,678 entitled CHAIR BACK HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM, which issued on Apr. 16, 1991, to DeKraker; U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,142 entitled VARIABLE BACK STOP, which issued on Jun. 9, 1988, to Holdredge; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,795 entitled VARIABLE BACK ADJUSTER FOR CHAIRS, which issued on Jan. 22, 1985, to Rozen.
As the adjustability features provided for chairs have increased, a corresponding increase in the number of actuators, controls, buttons and levers has resulted. Problems have been experienced with the positioning of the actuators and their controls. The controls must be integrated into the chair. The positioning and operation is generally not logical or readily apparent. In fact, many users are completely unaware of the existence of certain adjustable features. Certain features, such as back tension adjustment, are not usable while the user is seated due to their position under the chair. A need exists for an improved adjustable chair which provides a full range of adjustable features and which includes an actuator structure conveniently positioning and locating one or all of a plurality of various controls and actuators.